At the end of the season, we may look back at the San Francisco 49ers' current three-game skid with a shrug, wondering why everyone was so concerned. Or, we may look back and realize it was the turning point when the team's season derailed.
The 49ers opened their 2023 campaign with an impressive five-game winning streak, prompting premature declarations of them being the NFL's best team. Now, after three consecutive losses, they find themselves trailing the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC West standings as they head into the bye week, leaving more questions than answers.
Halloween is the NFL trade deadline. Leading into Sunday's Week 8 clash with the Cincinnati Bengals, there were whispers that the 49ers might be active as the deadline looms. General manager John Lynch and company were reportedly "working the phones," seeking ways to improve the roster.
Does the team's latest loss, a 31-17 dud against the Bengals, increase the sense of urgency for Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan to bring in some reinforcements?
"No, none of this changes anything with the trade deadline, how we played today, or how we played these last three weeks," Shanahan told reporters after the game. "When you sit and you watch tape, when it's out there on the field, and I know how these last two weeks, especially, I felt, but I do believe we have the answers in our building.
"I believe we have good players. I believe we have good coaches. It's up to me to get them to do better. I thought we started out pretty good, but there's some things that we haven't been able to hide here in these last few weeks. And that's why we've got to continue to push them in every aspect because some people do go on these losing streaks, and they don't have those answers, and you're just living in hope.
"I truly believe we do have the answers. I believe we got them on our team. I believe we got them with our staff."
Although the bye week offers much-needed rest, the wait until their next game—a Week 10 face-off against the Jacksonville Jaguars—will likely feel agonizingly long for a team eager to prove they are better than what their recent performances suggest.
"And we got to sit here and wait about 14 days to deal with this feeling that we have, which nobody wants," Shanahan continued. "But I think we need to. I think our guys need to be pissed off a little bit. I think we need to come back with a little better focus because it hasn't been enough, and we haven't been getting it done."